Valentine
by jammythedodger
Summary: Ordinary 18 year old Lizzie Connery moves to a new town. But who is this Lauri person no one knows? Why does her house get plauged by mysterious noises? first 3 chapters, if you want more, just comment please.
1. Chapter 1

This is my 1st chapter of a book I did in note form as fun. Now it has escalated into a full 3 books. Please say if you want more chapters!

VALENTINE

Chapter 1

Living a normal life with a normal family is good. Many people strive for it, but me? I want adventure and thrills. I guess that's why I'm here, in Lewsthurst. A full 10 miles from my family, how fun. Not.

I arrived at my new house, Ivy Cottage. A tumble-down cottage next to the forest. It looked like something out of a horror film with the trees arching around it and little light coming through. Fortunately, it was cheap, too cheap. Something must be wrong to sell it for £50,000? But it didn't stop me spending my life savings on it. Ok, **some **of it. The rest was my family; I'm only 18 so I had only amassed very little money in my account. Still, I was here finally after months of preparation and help from various people. Unfortunately, not all were so keen. Particularly my neighbours. Pointing and staring at me as I walked around town on my first day. But 1 person had the guts to speak to me, Rosa McLowan spoke to me, but it was bad news....

"Hey, your that new girl who's just moved in, aren't you?" asked Rosa as I browsed her shop. I nodded and turned red as a boy stared at me. Jeez, news travels fast here. Rosa raised an eyebrow and the kid scuttled off. "Have you heard the stories about that place?" asked Rosa. I turned to her,

"No, should I of have?" I asked politely. She maybe the only person who would be willing to explain. She nodded and begun,

"It's cursed. Howling and screaming outside the doors. Often the tenants only last a night. Something odd goes on in that house." She jumped as the door to the shop opened. She went quite pale but still greeted the person with a kind "Good morning" The person didn't reply, but I felt their eyes boring into me. That was it; I snapped and wheeled around to give them a piece of my mind. When I clapped eyes on them, I almost fainted. Stood before me was a vision of perfection. A breath of fresh air in this stuffy town of blandness. He had raven black hair and skin that was so pale, like moonlight. My eyes were drawn to his face; it was perfect and almost symmetrical. But the thing that was most amazing was his eyes. They were emerald green and sparkled. I felt the blood drain from my face, I managed a half intelligible

"Err; hi I'm Lizzie, I jus..." But then he finished my sentence in a voice that had a velvety quality to it,

"Moved here? I know, I live on the other side of the forest, in Treran. It's a few miles from here and is pretty isolated. Anyway, I'm Laurent or Lauri for short." He held out his hand for me to shake, which I did and fireworks exploded in my head. I was giddy from the sensations it gave me. All tingly, like electricity. He smiled at me and turned to Rosa, he asked her a question. I can't remember what; it didn't matter at that point, as I was still floating on cloud nine. He left after a short while and Rosa came back over to me,

"Anyway, as he said, he's Lauri and he lives near you. Sort of. He's only been here 2 years, since the strange occurrences started. That is probably the most he has ever spoken to a girl in this town. He's very private; no one knows where he is from originally or his surname, come to that." This was the moment I knew Lewsthurst could be more exciting than I originally thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Trying to sleep in a new place is hard enough for me, but now I had Lauris face in my head and I couldn't sleep for his sheer perfection. Lying in my bed, i listened to the wild January weather howling around the trees. They creaked and groaned as the winds bashed them about; this really didn't help me, so I gave up and turned the light on. I got up and rummaged through my bag (which i still hadn't unpacked) and pulled out my iPod touch. I pressed shuffle and my favourite song started, the saints are coming by Green Day and U2. I sung along softly to myself,

"Cried to my Daddy on the telephone, how long now?" Then it started, a loud howl echoed around the outside of my house, like a person in pain. Then the whole house shook as the battering started, working its way around the outside. I dived under the duvet and turned the music up and sung louder to drown it out,

"The saints are coming! The saints are coming! I say no matter how hard I try, I realise..." Tears trickled down my face as the thumps came ever closer to my window and my voice started to waver, but then it stopped and all was quiet. Then a loud crash, like something heavy running into a hard object, a creaky groan and a crack as something gave way, then a muffled thump. I peeked from underneath the duvet, all was still but my light swung still from the battering. After a while I plucked up the courage to look out of the window, but nothing was there, just complete darkness. I squinted into the distance, when I got home that afternoon I had realised that through my window you could just see Lauris, or what I assumed was his house on the hill on the other side of the trees. No lights were on, his house looked all quiet. I looked up at the sky; the moon was almost full now. All around stars twinkled and shone. I sighed and remembered that when I was younger, me and Dad used to go camping and he would point out the constellations to me. Orion, Canis Major and minor were the only ones I remembered. I closed the curtains and crawled back into bed, and finally fell into an uneasy sleep.

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"How did you get on last night Lizzie?" asked Rosa that morning as I appeared slightly tired in her shop. She looked at me and said "It happened then." I nodded as I remembered how it shook the very foundations of the house. I sighed and perched on a chair near the counter, and then I decided to ask Rosa exactly what other people had experienced and added,

"It got to my window and stopped completely." Rosa raised both eyebrows in surprise and pursed her lips. I saw her reaction realised that maybe not everyone had been so lucky. "Is that unusual for that house Rosa?" I asked to be sure. Rosa nodded and started to fiddle with items on the shelves nearby. Then she spoke,

"Normally the window gets done in from the sheer force, then the front door. The original owner gets annoyed with all the windows and doors that place gets through. You were lucky Lizzie." She turned to me "So, you staying?" I smiled at her,

"Yes I am. It'll take more than that to get rid of me!" It sounded brave, really I was scared stiff of what else could happen to me. Rosa smiled back,

"Good, 'cos I'm going to offer you a job here. That is if you want to work here." She looked at me, but I was too surprised to reply. Eventually I managed to nod and say "OK then". Rosa handed me a duster, "Well, you can start with helping me cleaning the shelves." This took my mind off the strange occurrences of last night. Also, I managed to get more information from Rosa about Lauri. When I brought up the subject she smiled and asked me "You like him, don't you? Ha, you and the rest of the towns women. Well, from what I gather he is about 18 and has no interest in the aforementioned towns' women." My heart sunk at that, I had seen some that looked like they had come from a modelling agency, why should he like me? The day dragged on and eventually it was 4:30 and I left. It wasn't that far to my house from the shop and it only took a few minutes walking. I noticed a figure standing in the forest, hunched over a tree which must of blown down. I couldn't make out who it was so ignored it and went inside.

After my tea, I decided to have a look myself at the tree. Luckily the person had gone and the forest was empty, but the darkness was gathering. I bent over the fallen tree and noticed it had broken funny, like something had forced it over. There were several parallel scratches along the trunk too. Made by some sharp implement, maybe an axe? No, the lines were evenly spaced, no axe could of been used to chop it so cleanly. I got up and turned around, very nearly crashing into someone.

"Oof, sorry. Oh hello Lizzie, isn't it?" There was no mistaking it, it was Lauri. "What are you doing out here at this time of day?" He asked, I could just make out his face; he looked a little surprised to see me. I managed to reply,

"I was just looking at this tree, that's all. It must of blown down last night in the bad weather" I looked up at him "And you?" He squirmed uncomfortably and sighed,

"Just, going for a walk. I saw you and wanted to see if you were alright. It looked like you were on the floor or something" He gestured to the ever increasing dark sky "You really wouldn't want to be out here at night on your own. Anyway, I must dash else I might err, get lost" He dashed off quick into the forest. I sighed and walked back to the house." I will speak to him properly tomorrow; I will get some answers for this problem" I vowed "I won't drop it."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It was 8.30pm the following evening, and I hadn't seen any evidence of Lauri all day. Perhaps he was deliberately avoiding me as he knew I would ask him about the strange occurrences around here? What ever it was, there was no sign of him, not even a light in his window. And as I was mulling this over, my phone rang. This made me jump out of my skin as I didn't give anyone else my home number, except my parents. So I answered it,

"Hello? " I asked, and a familiar voice answered "Lizzie? Its Alexis, your parents gave me your number." It was my closet (boy) friend Alexis, and I was happy to hear from him since he was in Paris for New Year. "Oh Alexis! How are you? I'm guessing your back from Paris now?" Alexis laughed "I don't think I've ever heard you so excited to hear from me! Well, I'm fine and yes I'm back from Paris. How are you getting on in Lewsthurst? Met any nice people?" I sighed and started my long explanation,

"Everyone stares at me as apparently there is a problem with the house. It's kind of cursed and as I found out, it is. The neighbours don't talk to me and the only people that do are Rosa, who owns the town shop and ..." I wasn't sure if I should tell him about Lauri, but he noticed I was holding back "And? You said people, who's the other one?" I sighed; I would have to tell him. "He lives on the other side of the forest; I met him on the first day. He has spoken to me twice; he's a bit of a recluse." Alexis laughed,

"You always attract nutters, did you know that? Anyway, I've got to go now, Rach has just arrived. Oh hang on she wants to speak to you." He passed the phone to Rachel, who was my closet (girl) friend. It was a happy coincidence they were dating, I thought. Another familiar voice,

"Lizzie! How is it there in your own house? Lonely?" I chuckled "Nope, though at night it's a bit scary. This house is cursed, unfortunately it's true." Rach gasped and giggled nervously.

"Hahaha, really? Oh dear. Tell you what, we'll come and visit you on Saturday if you like. Alexis's stink will drive any evil thing away!" I heard Alexis in the background go "Oi!" We both laughed "Yeah, why not? See you Saturday then Rach." Rach stopped laughing "Yeah, bye then." "Bye" and she was gone. I put the phone down, I had only been gone 2 days and already I was missing them. I flicked through TV channels, but there wasn't anything on of interest. So I went upstairs to bed, even though it was only 9.00pm. I looked out of the landing window, all quiet, no wind or clouds. And with that, I closed the curtains and went to my room.

I couldn't get to sleep that night, I wasn't sure why. So I got up and check my clock, only 1.00am? I wandered down the stairs to get a drink, and I felt the urge to look out the window again. So I opened the curtains a bit and gazed out. Nothing, just like before. But then movement in the bushes caught my eye. I gripped the ledge and peered out, my heart beating like a drum. Then to my surprise something, large and dark crept out of the bushes. It looked like an oversized dog. Yes, it must be. It's just a stray probably. I was about to turn away when it galloped towards my door, BANG! My mouth went dry and I wanted to run, but my legs refused to move. BANG! It flew into the door again; I managed to move towards my room, but only very slowly, my legs like two lead weights. BANG! I dived under the covers and curled up into a ball. Surely that door would give in soon? BANG! The door creaked a little, I started to scream. Tears streamed down my face, I was going to die, and I knew it. Then it went quiet and still, it must have run off. Then I heard a voice calling my name, I recognised it and there was no mistaking it. I managed to get down stairs, but I was still shaking and a bit tearful from it all. The door had survived, I managed to pull it open and there stood, like an angel, was Lauri. He looked tired, but his eyes still sparkled.

"Lizzie, are you alright? I saw the whole thing." He came in and led me to my sofa. I was too shocked to say anything. I sat down, but he remained standing,

"Can I, get you anything? A drink maybe?" He looked down at me; I was still shivering, from cold and shock. I nodded and managed to mumble,

"Water, just some water." He nodded and went into my kitchen. I wrapped my arms around me, I look a mess, I thought. I felt so silly; I mean it was just a dog? Tears started to fall again; I put my face in my hands, drew my knees up to my chest and sobbed quietly to myself. I heard Lauri come back in and put the water down on the table in front of me. He sat down next to me and said quietly,

"Ever since I saw you, I felt strangely drawn to you. You aren't like any other girl I've met." I looked up at him. His normally perfect face was lined with concern, he said again,

"It's breaking my heart to see you so upset." I sighed, why was he doing this? He knew that I was crazy about him, didn't he? I looked up again and said to him,

"But why does it have to be me? Surely there are better girls, prettier girls than me to feel so strongly about." He chuckled,

"Looks aren't everything Lizzie. You are special in your own way, you just have to accept it."


End file.
